Venezuela Government and Opposition Accuse Each Other of Political Firings

[TinaTyson]

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1236

Over the past week, leaders of Venezuela’s opposition have been accusing the government of pursuing a systematic policy of firing public employees who signed the referendum against President Chavez. Government officials, however, deny the charges, saying that not a single case has been reported to the Labor Ministry and that, instead, there were many cases filed of private sector workers who were forced to sign the recall referendum petition, lest they be fired.

..snip..

Rather, she said, that so far 387 accusations have been filed by private sector workers against employers who threatened to fire them or actually did fire them, for not signing the recall referendum petition. Of these accusations, only 195 were processed because the rest were not accompanied with sufficient information for processing the case. So far 19 of those who were fired had to be rehired.

[Judi Lynn]

1. So the only ones they can find are the ones fired by opposition employers.

Very, VERY interesting. Delightful learning they had to rehire them.

Same side making all the noise, too.

As it stands, there are still 387 people who weren't courageous enough to follow their complaints through to completion. Afraid they would lose their livelihood, of course.

[w4rma]

2. If the opposition takes control of the government back,

they probably will lose their livelihoods, imho. I'll bet we'll see mass firings of former-Chavez supporters if the opposition takes control back. Union busting will be back in vogue, also. The opposition may also confiscate the land of many folks who have gained land/property under Chavez.

Imho, for free trade/fair trade to work without destroying the living standards of Americans, folks like Chavez will have to be supported in their countries - folks who will work to build up the living standards of their citizens.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Good post, w4ma. It's all possible,

Hope we actually get to see a chance of something turning out RIGHT for a change, and Hugo Chavez allowed to finish the term the majority of Venezuelans voted for him to tackle.

[cprise]

4. That almost doesn't make sense

free trade/fair trade

Which is it? Are there democratic controls on commerce, or is commerce dictating the terms?

They are very different things, and the former simply doesn't work.